Bernard Pollard saying Tom Brady isn't the GOAT isn't as crazy as it sounds

Pollard says Peyton Manning is the GOAT, and he's got a pretty good argument.

NFL.com’s Elliott Harrison recently put together his list of the top-25 quarterback in league history, and, unsurprisingly, Tom Brady topped the list. That did not sit well with former NFL safety Bernard Pollard, who is probably best known for delivering the blow that ended Tom Brady’s 2008 season in Week 1 (despite putting together a solid career and winning a Super Bowl with the Ravens.)

Pollard, who played against Brady and the Pats four times and came out on the winning side in three of those contests, has Peyton Manning as his GOAT and Brady as his “clear cut #2,” which, for most people who understand that football is a team sport, isn’t that wild of a take.

Maybe if Pollard hadn’t brought up “the system,” he would have escaped the wrath of NFL Twitter. Almost every media outlet picked up the story and, for the most part, the main focus was on Pollard calling a Brady a “System QB,” which is seen as a pejorative when discussing the legacy of a passer. But there’s a little more nuance to what Pollard is saying here, and isn’t that what we ask for in our sports analysis? And if we demand nuanced arguments, shouldn’t we, as consumers of that analysis, hold ourselves to the same standard and offer nuanced reaction? That’s not what happened here.

There’s no denying that the Patriots “system,” which has evolved over the last decade has put Brady in a position to succeed. Brady has even said it himself:

Via ESPN.com: 

“I’m really a product of what I’ve been around, who I was coached by, what I played against, in the era I played in,” Brady said in 2017. “I really believe if a lot of people were in my shoes, they could accomplish the same kinds of things.”

Now, some of that is Brady wanting to sound humbe — OK, a lot of it is — but there is some truth in there, too. Playing for Bill Belichick has certainly contributed to Brady’s GOAT profile. And if “SIX RINGZ” is the No. 1 argument in the Brady vs. Manning debate (and it is) it is completely fair to bring up the system thing.

There is a BIG difference between a “system quarterback” and a quarterback who is helped by his system. I’d put a player like Jared Goff in that first category. He’s an average passer who has put up elite-level numbers thanks to Sean McVay’s QB-friendly scheme. Brady would be a great quarterback in any system — and Pollard basically says as much in his tweet — but he’s not the GOAT if he had spent his entire career playing for John Fox or some other decent head coach.

Let’s talk about the system New England runs. While the window dressing has certainly changed throughout the years — just in the last decade, the Pats’ base personnel grouping has changed at least three times — but the concepts and base philosophy have remained largely the same. The constant has been a complex passing system that requires a smart quarterback and equally smart receivers who can recognize coverages and adjust their routes on the fly. Brady hasn’t always had elite talent to throw to, but those receivers never seem to have a hard time getting open. Credit Brady for finding those open receivers, but it’s the system that consistently springs them free.

You can give Brady all of the credit for making the system work — and his exceptional football intelligence has certainly helped — but that would be ignoring the contributions of Belichick and his staff. If Brady moved to another team, he would not be able to bring that system with him and expect it to run just as smoothly.

But that’s exactly what Peyton Manning did in Denver. After a few rough weeks, the Broncos handed the offense over to Peyton Manning and it wasn’t long before Denver’s offense was breaking records. That’s what Pollard means by “Peyton WAS the system.”

Just listen to Belichick talk about Manning. It’s as if Manning was the offensive coordinator of that Broncos team…

“He’s going to attack you based on what you’re doing,” Belichick said of Manning in 2013. “If you do certain things, he’s going to do certain things. If you do other things, he’s going to do other things. He’s going to run the plays that are good plays against what you’re doing: runs, passes, schemes, whatever they are. That’s what makes him a great, great, great quarterback. He’s very, very good at that.”

For some, that isn’t enough to make up the gap in rings, which is fine. We all have different GOAT criteria. But to dismiss Pollard, who spent hours studying both players on film and competed against both, out of hand because his opinion doesn’t line up with the consensus is counterproductive and promotes the kind of sports analysis we all claim to despise.

That said, Tom Brady is obviously the GOAT and Pollard is out of his mind.